Approved Worker 2Tim 2:15-17

George Allen 18March2024

Grace Bible Church Lorton

Introduction

Good morning Men, my name is George Allen and I’m honored to be here with you today.

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Why read the bible? What does an ancient text have to do with me and my life today? These are questions I asked myself regularly before I became a Christian. Even after I came to trust in him and believe that Jesus died for my sins this question still comes to mind. I may think I know the right answer now or I may even be able to find it more easily but what has that changed in my life?

Men, it’s changed everything. As I learn more about God and how he is at work in my life and others around me I desire to share this change with others. God has changed me and you, as fellow christian workers, from hearers of the word to doer’s of his word. And as doer’s of his word we are helping spread this great message of grace and mercy found in the bible. With the privilege of sharing this message comes great responsibility to handle it well.

Turn with me to 2 Timothy 2:15-17 and we find how Paul charges Christian workers with two disciplines required for teaching the scriptures so godliness will spread. Now follow along as I read:

“Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth. Avoid irreverent and empty speech, since those who engage in it will produce even more godlessness, and their teaching will spread like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among them.”

Now let’s consider circumstances surrounding this passage and second Timothy as a whole.

Background/Context

Timothy is the intended recipient of this letter written by Paul and this is the second letter he has written specifically to Timothy after Paul charged him to stay in Ephesus and build up the local church.

In first Timothy chapter one verses three and four Paul is reminding Timothy what his mission is. He writes:

As I (Paul) urged you when I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach false doctrine or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies. These promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan, which operates by faith.

Timothy’s mission was to help the church in Ephesus combat false teaching. He did not take over as the lead pastor here but seems to have been assigned more of a consulting role - teaching the leaders who were already in place there. He had additional church structural responsibilities that included the organization of the church. Paul outlines in detail in first Timothy some of these tasks including congregational matters like prayer and spelling out the qualifications for leaders in the church. Timothy had a big responsibility and Paul knew this; he didn’t want to leave Timothy high and dry without encouragement and guidance. Paul’s first letter to Timothy was likely written shortly after the assignment began and is more instructional in nature while the second letter to Timothy is more personally oriented.‌

This assignment to remain in Ephesus came after Timothy and Paul had traveled together for over a decade on their missionary journey. Luke traces their partnership in the book of Acts, starting with Paul’s selection of Timothy to join him on his mission partly because people had spoken so highly of him. During this time Paul preached and taught gentiles that were unfamiliar with the gospel but also poured into the brothers in christ he had traveling with him. Paul was a disciple making disciples, and as we see in chapter two of second timothy he is tasking Timothy with the same responsibility in Ephesus. Notice verse two:

What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

Timothy had been in Ephesus for at least a year or possibly two when Paul wrote him a second letter. We see from the onset that it was more personal in nature. Paul addressing Timothy as “my dearly loved son” leads us to believe Timothy would haven taken Paul’s words to heart. Paul encouraged Timothy in his personal walk along with his ministry to other workers in the church. Just before our passage today Paul has again encouraged Timothy in terms of training his disciples.

Remind them (the men) of these things, and charge them before God not to fight about words. This is useless and leads to the ruin of those who listen.

The problem Timothy was originally sent to Ephesus to address was ongoing. Paul was making certain that Timothy understood the importance of reminding the men in his care to watch what they say.

This is the context we find ourselves in with our passage today. Paul tied a lot of his message in second Timothy back to the main mission in Ephesus: work against false teachings. He started out with specific instructions for the church in first Timothy then shifted to a more personal exhortation in the beginning of the second letter and now on to specific guidance helping christian workmen disciple better so that godliness spreads through their teaching.

‌I. Body: Conscientious Study

‌Follow along as I read our passage again:

Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth. Avoid irreverent and empty speech, since those who engage in it will produce even more godlessness, and their teaching will spread like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among them.

Paul is charging Timothy with two disciplines here that those teaching the word must adhere to so that Christs message is heard above all else. The first discipline is conscientious study of God’s word. Paul was reminding Timothy that as disciples of Christ he must teach the word correctly.

The command Paul gives is translated from the original language as “be diligent” in the CSB; its intent is to ask the reader for a dedicated effort. We could say zealous or use the adjective hurry or hasten now but the point being this is an intentional action that those working for God need to take on.

So Paul is telling Timothy to be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved. The way to do this would be to correctly teach the word of truth, unlike those teaching falsely in Ephesus. By teaching correctly you can be confident when standing before God that you are approved.

As fellow disciples we need to teach the word correctly too so we can confidently present ourselves to God as an approved worker for his kingdom.‌ The word present in this context has similar meaning to what would happen when we present ourselves to a judge for judgement, God here, being the judge and who’s standard we should constantly be checking ourselves against. If we don’t, we will see later that godlessness is apt to spread instead of godliness.

Does God not approve of us if we get an interpretation wrong? Is this tied to our salvation and if so what about being saved by grace through faith in Christ?

Men, don’t be dismayed; this approval is not tied to our salvation.

Paul is not changing the gospel here.

We don’t have to guess whether or not we are approved for salvation by how we teach, Christ did everything necessary in order to provide for our salvation through his work on the cross.

That being said, as teachers of God’s word, you and I are held to a higher standard and must constantly remind ourselves the very word of God is what we are teaching.

Paul is exhorting Timothy to be intentional with his words and his teaching. He is imploring Timothy to avoid the pitfalls of the false teachers and to make certain that he is correctly teaching the word. This is achieved by conscientious study of the scriptures and thorough preparation in order to accurately teach others.

We, brothers therefore, must continually check our heart and our mind so that we align with Scripture. Are the motives in our message biblical or are we trying to justify a message with biblical text taken out of context? If we are conscientious in our study of God’s word we can more easily avoid the shame that would come with teaching incorrectly.

No Shame

Paul goes on to say Timothy and his disciples shouldn’t be ashamed as christian workers.

Follow along as I read the first part of our passage again

Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.

The word translated ashamed is unique in the new testament. In fact, this is the only place it is seen in this form. Therefore it takes on a different meaning than when we see it earlier in chapter one; there Paul uses the word in its more common form and tells Timothy not to be ashamed of the Gospel. The translation in that case is associated with an external fear or embarrassment of being labeled a Christian by others.

‌Here, however, the meaning is more internal and closely aligned with personal guilt or shame. In this context Paul used this word to point christian workers to diligent study of God’s word in order to preach accurately and therefore present to God as one that is approved. Timothy, his disciples, and even we can be tempted to preach our own gospel, in which case we could easily feel ashamed for mishandling the word of God. Men, we must not fall into the trap of the false teachers. You and I must be intentional in our study in order to correctly teach God’s word so we too can present ourselves as approved.

Correct Teaching

For this reason, especially as christian workers, you and I should work vigorously to understand the scriptures and their original intent. We must be teaching the points as they are meant to be taught. This takes effort and intentionality. We must always keep in mind that God is the ultimate judge and the one who’s approval we seek.

Application

‌So, how about you? Are you seeking the approval of God or of someone else? Men, I have struggled in this area for years. After coming to true salvation by grace through Christ I spent a year and a half in a close relationship with a missionary pastor. Yes, my relationship with God grew but when I moved away and no longer had that close relationship with my mentor my relationship with God suffered….why? God didn’t change but I did…and because God was not my highest focus my relationship with him wavered. Finding a more experienced man that can help point you to biblical answers is important but just like Paul is pointing Timothy to Christ and not himself we too should be focused on Christ Alone. We must be discipled and be discipling. But those relationships cannot be the MOST important part of your relationship with God.

How then do we help our relationship with God grow? Men, if we are not opening our hearts and being vulnerable with God on a regular basis and going to his word for guidance then we cannot expect our relationship to grow. Then, when we try to teach others about God we run a high risk of handling the word incorrectly and preaching the wrong gospel. Don’t do this! Handle the word correctly by being in the word.‌

Trust that God will work in you as you are diligent in your studies of His word. He has called you to teach the word to others and therefore he will empower you to do so. But we cannot sit still and “hope”. Start small by reading the word and praying that God works in you through his word. Then see how God changes your heart as Hebrews four: 12-13 says:

For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating as far as the separation of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.

As God changes your heart - your actions and thoughts will change too and as you grow through conscientious study of God’s word even your speech will change.

II. Body: Calculated Speech

The second discipline with which Paul charged Timothy is calculated speech. We know the false teachers in Ephesus did not worry about the accuracy of their words - remember in verse fourteen Paul urged Timothy to instruct his fellow christian workers not to fight about words. And because the false teachers argued over words which then lead to ruin Paul encouraged Timothy to avoid, or “go around” this type of carless speech. Look again at verses sixteen and seventeen:

‌Avoid irreverent and empty speech, since those who engage in it will produce even more godlessness, and their teaching will spread like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among them.

Incorrect Speech‌

Irreverent should make us think of blasphemy and points both to the speakers heart attitude toward God an to their words. Paul again has pointed Timothy to false teachers that, as we see later in verse 18, were preaching their own gospel. He references Hymenaeus and Philetus specifically. Presumably these two men would have be known to Timothy and their teaching and attitude would be fresh in his mind. Paul urged Timothy to avoid speaking as they did about Christ since this is in direct contrast with the truth.

Paul said this type of teaching produced godlessness that spread like gangrene. Gangrene is a nasty flesh eating bacterial infection that spreads little by little through the body. If not treated by cutting off the gangrenous tissue death will follow.

False teaching was leading people to depart from the faith and head straight towards spiritual death. Timothy’s mission is to spread godliness by preaching the good news of Jesus Christ and his resurrection therefore Timothy must cut off those that are preaching their own gospel.

Remember, Paul is instructing Timothy in ways to instruct other Christian workers. Part of that duty is to identify and remove false teachers to avoid spreading death.

If, as christian workers we are to put off irreverent speech then we must put on reverent speech.

Correct Speech

Paul tied these two commands together for Timothy and for other christian workers like us. By studying scripture well so that you and I can correctly teach it, through God’s grace, we are learning how to speak in reverence of our creator. If we teach what is in the Bible godliness will spread through the work of the Holy Spirit in those that hear it.

As we prepare for home group or a sermon or reading to our families the Holy Spirit is working in us and through us as our hearts fill with God’s truth.

Application‌

How can this help us today while we’re preparing for a sermon or to lead a home group or even for family bible time? As believers, and especially christian workers, we must not become sidetracked with pointless discussions or argue about words. ‌We must also ensure we are not using the bible as a weapon out of context to prove our points and move our message. If we do our teaching will spread godlessness and lead others away from Christ and towards spiritual death!

This should get our attention but it should not leave us feeling burdened into inaction. By God’s grace you and I have been saved and as the holy spirit works in us he will also work in those that we are teaching; just as Paul says in Philippians 2:13

“For it is God who is working in you - both to will and to work according to his good purpose.”

See men, do not be discouraged but instead rejoice that through our imperfect obedience God can do great things.

Conclusion

‌Paul knew the church in Ephesus needed to change. He charged Timothy with helping them turn to Christ. As fellow Christians we are charged by the Lord in a similar way. We need to align our behaviors with the values we say we believe.

‌Brothers, we are not left alone to “figure it out”. Read the bible. Pray to God.

And as Paul tells Timothy a few verses later in verse nineteen

‌[…]God’s solid foundation stands firm, bearing this inscription: The Lord knows those who are his, and let everyone who calls on the name of the Lord turn away from wickedness.

‌You are HIS, purchased by the blood of Christ for God in Heaven! Run to him by being in the word and pouring out your heart in prayer to him; he will provide you the necessary grace to keep you from misrepresenting his word. The holy spirit, the same spirit that raised christ from death, will continue to work in you and through your words as you teach others - and godliness will spread. Do not hold back in your efforts to teach those God has placed in your life.

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